Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to contact list management for mobile contacts and more particularly to contact list management according to prospective contact reachability.
Description of the Related Art
The address book has remained part and parcel of mobile telephony since the inception of the cellular network. The address book of a mobile phone is a data store of contacts including names and telephone numbers of those known to the possessor of the mobile phone. Often referred to as a contact list, mobile phones traditionally provide both a general list of contacts and also a “speed dial” list of most frequently accessed contacts. More advanced smart phones additionally provide the capability to filter contacts in a contact list, for example in order of most frequently contacted or most recently contacted.
Oftentimes, different contacts in a list fulfill an interchangeable role such that when one contact of a role is to be reached telephonically, in the event that the contact of the role cannot be reached, reaching an alternative contact of the same role can be a satisfactory outcome. At present, the manner in which contacts of a role can be reached is best termed a brute force method. Specifically, one typically begins with an attempt to telephone a first contact of the role and continues through the list until a contact of the role is reached. To the extent that the first or second contact can be reached, the brute force method can suffice. However, where the first available and reachable contact of a role resides four or more entries deep in a contact list filtered by role, the manually intensive brute force method can be extraordinarily wasteful.
The buddy list is a form of contact list common in the instant messenger space in which a list of contacts can be grouped together in a list of most frequently accessed contacts. Further, the availability and reachability of the contacts in the buddy list can be computed centrally and reported to the buddy list. Typically, the availability and reachability of a contact is determined either manually by the contact, or programmatically by detecting computing activity by the contact. The “presence awareness” of the contacts in the buddy list in turn can be conveyed to the end user visually through icons of different shapes and colors. In this way, the end user can readily identify when a contact in the buddy list is available to engage in an instant messaging session.